For Liam Friary, the sport of triathlon has literally helped shape his life for the better.
The Herne Bay resident races in Rotorua in the Contact Tri Series on November 5th and turns 28 five days before he races at the Barfoot & Thompson ITU World Cup, competing in the age group race around the waterfront circuit.
But his journey has been a long one, indeed over the past four years he was been working hard at his turning his life around through triathlon, dropping more than 50kg in weight after reaching rock bottom.
Liam had always been the big kid throughout his younger years. Nicknamed ‘big boy', he was forced to play rugby two years above his grade and copped a fair share of bullying because of his size.
After high school he travelled to Europe on his OE, and things continued to get worse. Living the party lifestyle, too much eating and drinking saw his weight balloon out until one poignant moment sparked his life changing journey.
"A French rugby team asked me to come and play as they needed a prop. At that time the club did a weigh in on me and the scale read 134kg,” he said.
"Something clicked in my head that it was all just too much. I was a little bit ashamed of myself; I couldn't really look in the mirror or at photos and just continually hid within myself.”
During the days to follow, Liam challenged himself to walk for 20 minutes three times a week, while friends encouraged him to do some light workouts at the local gym in France.
"Just doing a little workout for 30 minutes made me feel good. It wasn't about losing the weight so to speak, it was more about me feeling good about myself and getting back some self-worth and pride.”
After 18 months Liam was down to 115kg, and the day after returning home to New Zealand he kept the momentum going by signing up to Les Mills for regular cardio sessions.
Then a challenge from his mum to complete the King of the Bays ocean swim from Milford to Takapuna marked the beginning of his transition into the sport of triathlon.
Liam managed to beat his mum in the swim, and felt so good in the water that soon after he moved onto the local Stroke and Stride swim/run event. He blew up on the run but was determined not to let his body win the battle and started a strict running regime to boost his fitness.
As soon as he got into his run training the weight began to shave off him, first shrinking to 100kg, then 90kg, then 80kg, and finally to 77kg where he is today.
"It's definitely a huge effort; the whole journey's been really life changing for me. Last May I didn't even have a bike and then someone came up with this crazy concept of doing Ironman New Zealand.
"I'd lost 40kg at that point and I thought ‘there's no reason I can't do it'. It went through my head ‘this is crazy' but, as we all know triathletes chip away at things and the ultimate goal for me was completing Ironman.”
Liam was successful in completing Ironman, and the amazing experience off crossing the finish line has inspired him even further as he heads into just his second summer season of triathlon.
"Triathlon has taken me on a remarkable journey, bumping into some good people to train with and some great life mentors. Triathletes are so highly motivated and you just feed off them.
"Thankfully I've had some great support from my sponsors 2XU, Les Mills and Jucy Rentals which has allowed me to learn some important lessons from my first triathlon season.
"All I want to do is try and inspire others to get fit and I'm more than willing to help anyone along with their journey. My lifestyle has completely changed from hanging out in bars to hanging out in lycra.”
So Rotorua this weekend and then next for Liam is the Barfoot & Thompson ITU Auckland World Cup, before a tune-up at the Taupo Half Ironman before the big one – another dig at Ironman New Zealand in March.
Liam will be amongst a sold out field of over 1,000 age group triathletes swimming, cycling and running their way around the waterfront course on Sunday 20th November, before the best in the world take to a similar CBD course in the Barfoot & Thompson ITU World Cup races.
It seems appropriate that the event is based at the now famous ‘Cloud' on Queens Wharf. You sense that when the start gun goes in his event, Liam will be floating on ‘cloud nine' as much as swimming his way around the first leg of an event and a sport that is helping shape his life – literally.
